The prior art, and in particular the Applicant's prior document FR-A-2 718 347=EP-A-676 158, discloses a method and a device for supporting an element to be supported, in particular the body of a patient, making it possible to support the element at an essentially constant controlled penetration depth.
Unfortunately, in the prior art, such inflatable chambers, a preferred application of which is to therapeutic surfaces, pose a problem when they are to be transported. To make them easier to carry, their volume must be reduced to as small as possible while touching them as little as possible, in view of the risks of possible contamination.
To reduce their volume, substantially all of the air that they contain must be removed. The most commonly used technique for removing the air is to roll the mattress up, or to press on the entire surface of the mattress. Such touching for emptying purposes can give rise to contamination, that risk being particularly great when emptying a therapeutic mattress which might have been used by a patient suffering from a contagious disease. In addition, it takes a relatively long time to reduce its volume in that way.
However, prior to the invention, no one posed the problem of emptying an inflatable chamber rapidly and substantially totally, in particular a chamber of a support device, such as a mattress.